As officer's Woods and Cramer reached the third step, both slipped on the blood stained stairs and fell. Woods began to turn and as he fell on the steps, his rifle went off, striking his partner, and two other officer's at the top of the stairs. Cramer, I guess, fearing he was being fired on, opened fire on Woods mistakenly with his shotgun, as both rolled to the basement floor. In those split second, four members of a 7 man swat team had been wounded or killed.

 

I pulled out my radio, and called dispatch, giving a "Code three" shots fired, multiple officer's down,  2277 Larch lane, requesting aid units and all available back up units. It was the only call I made, as I applied direct pressure to entry wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. As I looked down the stairwell, I could see the tow assault weapon's flashlight beams shining on the floor. I couldn't see either officer, and I repeatedly called their names, but got no response. In the mean while, Sgt. Olson ordered one of his crew to get out to the swat van, pronto and bring back more assault rifles with flashlights, and some flash grenades. There was nothing but silence coming from the basement, an errie feeling, given the bloody mess we found when we arrived, and now.

 

I know from experience, the worst fear of any police officer, especially assigned to a raid of any kind, is to have things go bad. Usually, it's running into heavily armed multiple suspects, not accidently shooting your own partners. The sounds of sirens were getting closer and closer. What ever had been in the basement, hadn't chosen to come at us, at least for the moment, or it was already gone. I tried not to think of what would have happened had the creature chose to attack the two men in the basement.

 

The first to arrive on the scene was  Simmons, Jarvis, and a rookie whose name I did not know. Behind them, was  Phillips, with three assault rifles from the van, plus a box. The sound of the siren's I heard now were of aid units, as Simmons radio'd that we needed additional aid units. There were six officers on the scene now, and three assault rifles with flashights, and they were passed them out. Sgt. Olson took the box of flash grenades, used to create a loud concussion in a small room, followed by a flash, to disorient and confuse suspects in a room, or as a diversion to gain entry.

 

Quickly he gave a run down of what happened as I saw medics coming down the hall. Simmons and Jarvis helped get the injured officer's farther away from the basement door, to allow room for the medics, as the second aid crew entered the hall. Sgt. Olson, not wanting to make the same mistake, cautioned the swat team to step slowly and cautiously, one at a time, as we moved out of the line of fire. Sgt. Olson got into position, and tossed one grenade to the left of the stairwell, and as it went off, tossed another, to the right. Now the basement was even more dangerous, because now, it was smokey, hard to see.

 

Sgt. Olson, was the first to begin making his way down the blood stained steps. Once at the bottom, he gave a whistle, a signal for another swat member to come down, till all three were in the basement. They found Officer Woods first, face down on the floor, a pool of blood around his head. He had taken a shotgun blast to the throat, and was dead, Cramer's body was less then 5 feet away, curled up in a fetal position. he had at least one gun shot wound to the head, and several just belo his bullet proof vest, Sgt Olson radio'd. Now, began a careful sweep of the basement, for any suspects. In a few moments, the Sgt. radio'd they were coming back up the stairs and to hold our fire.

 

Sgt. Olson called dispatch, for an officer to bring out some sand, so we could remove Woods and Cramer from the basement. Phillips told me that the other two swat team member's Conklin and Henry were at the hospital, awaiting surgery, and that they were stable. No doubt reporter's and tv crews were gonna have a field day on this one. The watch commander was going to need a full report as well as internal affairs, who reviews all police shootings. I knew that it was going to be a long night for all of us. Once the bodies were removed, everyone went back to the station for debriefing.

 

As I entered the police station, my suit, stained with blood, dried blood on my face and brow, I asked the front desk, where the 4 witnesses had gone? I was told that

one was under hospital observation, two were given sedatives, and went home, but the fourth, had said she was leaving town. What in the hell was going on...I asked myself? I found out Sue McCaffe was the person who said she was leaving town, and I got her address. As I pulled into the driveway of her residence, I saw the front door wide open. Next door was a heavy set man, emptying the bag on his lawn mower. I knocked on Sue's door, and heard..."She ain't there, moved out, lickety split, darndest thing I ever saw".

 

He took a look at my suit, ..."what the hell happen to you?, as I showed him my badge. "Don't worry about that sir, tell me about Sue, whered she go"? All he said was... "Said she was going to Billings, I think, yes, Billings, Montana, by bus, and that she wasn't coming back. I tell ya, I never seen such a scared gal in all my life. It was like the devil himself was chasing her". I thanked him, and went back to the station to get cleaned up. Sue had been the one who found the diary, I recalled it from her statement. She had also been the one who ran past the creature that killed her friend, John Appleton. Were the other three gonna leave town...I asked myself as I backed out of the driveway?